Hard to believe it's already June 4th, the day before my baby's estimated due date, but it's very unlikely this date will be accurate.  This is possibly a good thing, and I keep reminding myself that I should enjoy the extra time, and peace and quiet of now before the child. On the other hand, I'd like to start the next volume of my life. Soon enough, it'll happen, I guess... 

Meanwhile, every day is an opportunity to try something new. I recently started following Oh Sweet Day!  on Instagram, and scrolled through multiple photos on their page, admiring their beautiful cheesecakes and pastries. H and I saw their booth at the farmer's market, and I could not resist splurging on a $6.50 single portion of cheesecake, with a diameter similar to that of a pop can. My justification was that in these times of COVID-19, we have to support local small businesses! Also, being pregnant has amplified my sugar addiction and cravings by a scale of 10. 

This was the espresso flavored cheesecake: 

I have to be honest though, this was left in the fridge for maybe 2 or 3 days before I got around to eating it, so it was not the freshest and a bit soggy. Nevertheless, the cheesecake filling to crust ratio was on point (if you dug your fork in from top to bottom, none of that slanted stabbing motion to just get at the top). The espresso flavoring was not overwhelming. Overall, very tasty, but would I go back again for this tiny little cheesecake? 

Probably wouldn't, because I'm not that big of a cheesecake fan. Their other larger cake options look attractive, maybe for the next party or gathering (so in 2021 maybe? ha.)

Other than supporting local, the media has been strongly trending BLM... Today also marks the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing. Strange how the timing is so similar, 30 years later, and not much has changed.

I'm currently going through a phase where my body does not want to literally roll out of bed in the mornings, and I am numbing my brain with endless episodes of Grey's Anatomy where they're either performing a laparotomy or removing a hernia and/or a brain tumor. Then, a pregnant woman comes along, and there's a complication with the fetus, usually with her water breaking during a critical moment during an environmental crisis, so that the trauma center is also overloaded with patients... I have also acquired a new habit of staying in bed or lying on the sofa until the middle of the day, either playing Animal Crossing or scrolling through what appears to be endless Instagram posts of the gourmet meals people have been whipping up while restaurants are shut down, the screenshots of Zoom parties, and socially distant lounge at home inspired OOTD's. 

That's when I came across Elephant Garden Creamery's post about their new R&B Remix flavor, a red bean and black sesame combo, two of my favourite dessert ingredients. This flavor was actually released in March, but I guess I've been so in my own world of baby preparations and Netflix that I haven't been paying much attention to anything else. 

Since the COVID-19 restrictions have slightly loosened up, H and I felt like we could do a quick stop by Commercial Drive to visit Elephant Garden Creamery.  While the pints of the R&B Remix flavor weren't available, we did get a pint of their vegan mango coconut sticky rice ice cream, which is another one of my all time favourites from their shop. Who would've thought that I could enjoy vegan ice cream? 

This is a scoop of the R&B Remix, which was smooth, creamy, and full of large red bean pieces. By using the larger whole red beans, I could actually taste a more authentic red bean flavor and have that extra texture to chew on. 

For one pint and one scoop of ice cream, the total came to $16. A bit out of our budget now, but sometimes, you just have to treat yourself to get out of a funky mood. Also, it feels like we're doing our part in supporting a local small business. Does our $16 contribution actually help? 

Elephant Garden often has other delicious Asian inspired flavors, like Hong Kong milk tea, and Vietnamese coffee. There are other great ice cream shops to explore around Vancouver for a different variety of flavor profiles, and I'm excited to try out a few new ones once my child arrives this summer.

Meanwhile, I am still trying to gather the motivation to figure out this thing: 

I'm sure I can learn it out on the job, without reading the manual... These things are meant for groggy parents who haven't slept through the night, right? No point in spending time trying it out now, who knows if I'll even have milk right? This is pretty typical of me though. I hate being over prepared.

Back to Netflix.

Spent my 1st and hopefully, the only long weekend of maternity leave mostly napping and wondering what I'll be eating next. Restaurants are opening up soon in BC, which will make summer much more enjoyable. I'm dreaming of hanging out at Platform 7's backyard at their Hastings location, with the baby napping in her stroller. I'll be sipping on my favourite beverage from there - an iced latte (possibly decaf, if I'm still breastfeeding by that time), and hopefully, enjoy the peaceful charm of their garden. 

The assumption here is that my child will be a good sleeper in public.     

Also, another assumption is that Platform 7 makes it through the pandemic, which I'm sure they will because they have a strong following. Will other places with less history make it through? 

Are we still going to be able to go back to Fufu Pancake after the pandemic?  

H and I visited this place around the end of December, because of all the hype created around these very photogenic souffle pancakes on Instagram, and because we couldn't fit in any of the jiggly pancakes into our packed itinerary during our honeymoon in Japan, where this trend originated. If I recall correctly, I had taken some time off for a doctor's appointment, and it was midweek, so the savoury brunch options weren't available. We ordered the Tiramisu and the Matcha, which were both around $14 each (TOO EXPENSIVE!).   

The Tiramisu pancakes came with a scoop of coffee ice cream, but is not seen in this photo because of my poor photography skills during pregnancy. I can't deny any longer that having a baby does contribute to a decrease in focus and motivation after having experienced it myself... It did look very photogenic in real life, but a bit too sweet for our liking. 

I do not have a close up shot of the Matcha souffle pancakes, but I can tell you that it was also more good looking than good tasting. My conclusion is that Fufu Panacake is the ideal place to go if you enjoy looking at food, and do not care too much about the eating of the food. I expected the pancakes to jiggle more and have more flavour than just the sweetness from each of the individual toppings. 

Going back to the original question of whether they'll still be around post COVID-19... Well, their marketing game is strong, and lots of people in Vancouver are just eating for the 'gram, so it's likely that they could make a comeback. Competition from other souffle pancake stores could be creeping into Vancouver though. Gram Cafe at Aberdeen opened up just before the start of the pandemic, and more shops will be opening around the Lower Mainland. This one looks pretty promising, and I'll probably try it out, hopefully soon.

I took extra time off before my due date because I had vacation time to spare, so why not? In hindsight, maybe I should have taken less time off. I tried to sleep in past 7AM, but in the end, I just couldn't stay in bed any longer. 

What am I getting up so early for? 

To feed my growing baby, I guess. 

Actually, more than 50% of my day is spent thinking about food. Food that I should be eating to keep the baby healthy. Food that I plan to eat right away after the baby comes.  The next meal, because the last meal I had might not have had enough fiber or protein. Trying to decide whether I should snack on another cookie while waiting for the husband to come home from work and make dinner, or just wait for dessert after dinner.  All I want is sugar and pastries!

Is there such a thing as a healthy dessert? 

J and I were at Snow Angel Cafe  a while back, and tried the honeycomb shaved ice (bingsoo). Since it's mostly ice, it must be healthy, and look, there are even walnuts for extra protein! The honeycomb topping and the scoop of vanilla ice cream was just sweet enough to add flavor to the ice. The best part was how visually appealing the whole thing looked, topped with cute little edible flowers. 

I remember that when we visited, I was still in the early stages of pregnancy, before the nasty orange drink diabetes test, so I was really trying to control my sugar intake. I tried to leave most of it for J to eat, but it was pretty hard to resist. 

 

They have a few other flavours, including matcha and red bean toppings. I was looking forward to going back to try a few others this summer. 

Fast forward to pandemic times... Snow Angel is still open for deliveries, but can't go to the cafe for bingsoo. It's pretty hard to get a bowl of ice delivered before it melts into a puddle!

The sugar cravings are real though, and K kindly ordered one of their earl grey cakes for me, for our socially distant baby shower. She also ordered an ice latte for H, so that he wouldn't feel left out. I took a sip, ONE SIP, which is safe for the baby. It was a solid coffee. They separated a few pieces of sugar on the side for adjusting sweetness as preferred. The cake was alright, not a lot of earl grey flavor, but otherwise, a delicious spongy cake with fluffy whipped cream. 

I'll be back for the bingsoo once we can!  

PS - thanks to everyone for the gifts and food. It really helps to know that we have the support of our friends and family with this little one. :) 

H is a sentimental guy. For the anniversary of our wedding engagement (note engagement, not wedding day!), he planned a surprise delivery for me. Being a busy person and soon-to-be mom (hate to admit, my brain is getting fuzzier as the days go by...), I actually forgot about this day, and was quite confused when he walked in with a bouquet of tulips and eucalyptus from Whole Foods and a box from Grounds for Coffee:

Since the beginning of the 3rd trimester, I've had a strong sugar craving, and I actually have dreams of eating the heaviest cakes and cookies. These cinnamon buns from Grounds for Coffee meet all the requirements for my pastry cravings. The bun portion is dense, and super packed with sugar and butter. Add the cream cheese frosting to top it off, and it's a perfect snack to go with a (decaf) coffee or tea, while sitting around on the couch  growing the baby inside my body. 

Prior to the pandemic, we visited the actual cafe too, and sat down at one of the corner tables in the crowded space to enjoy their cinnamon bun and latte. Tables and chairs were mostly taken up, so we were pretty lucky to be able to find a spot to squeeze into. The cozy room, along with that warm smell of fresh cinnamon buns and coffee, created a good buzz for working on laptops, pretending to study, and people watching. Reminded me of when I would go to cafes to study. 

Also, there has been progress with the baby crib! We are ready for sleep to happen.

Pizza during the COVID-19 pandemic: 

We were close to Papa John's, and picked this up for lunch at home. There's an online ordering system to create your own pizza, which seems pretty standard these days for most pizza joints. Choose your toppings, and here's a large pizza for $15! 

There's a fair selection of toppings, crusts, and sauces to go through, and all of them are pretty standard, like the ham and sausage that we added to our pizza. It's not deep dish pizza from Chicago, but add on the extra sauce, and it'll do for now. Also, I didn't expect too much, and it was easy for them to go above and beyond. 

For future reference, they carry Pepsi products, so if you've got a hankering for a diet Coke, it's not happening.

I was going to call it a "quick" lunch, but there's more time now to slow down since there aren't as many places to go to, appointments to keep, people to see. Just removing commute time (e.g. 45 minutes to get to work, and another same chunk of time to get back) has saved so many hours for all the things I've wanted to do for so long. Also, social distancing has released my inner introvert that I've tried to bury for so long. Really having the time of my life right now.

Also also, I'M HAVING A BABY SOON. Construction in progress...

P ordered me a surprise delivery of Easter desserts from Chez Christophe in North Burnaby: 

Chez Christophe delivers within a small neighborhood, and H and I are lucky to fall within the borders of this small area. Their delivery time frame is quite wide, from 12PM to 3PM, and it would have been nice to have a more precise idea of when they would drop by, just in case we were in the middle of something. H actually got off night shift that morning at 7AM, and woke up at noon to coordinate the pick up and avoid ruining the surprise for me. Chez Christophe probably would have done something if requested ahead of time though, because their customer service in stores is top notch and I imagine they would have made some exceptions if needed. Either way, I was just super excited to see a big bag plastered with their logo coming through my apartment door.

Each piece of cake was securely positioned on its own gold cardboard. There was the one chocolate mousse in a plastic container, and all of them were taped down to the bottom of a big white cake box to prevent shuffling around during the drive.

The Easter bunny was a seasonal item, so it's no longer available. It's a carrot cake, raspberry confit, dark chocolate cream cheese mousse on a hazelnut crumble base (this description is straight from their Instagram, there's no way I would be able to know this):

This is their Sunny's Matcha, which is a matcha namalaka (a what?), matcha chiffon, lemon yuzu mousse and white chocolate sesame crunch for the base:

This is the Trio de Chocolat, which is made of dark, milk, and white chocolate mousse topped with gluten free chocolate crumble (I think some of this crumble did fall off during the delivery, and some of it got on the dessert in the next photo. The flavors of the desserts were not negatively affected by this): 

The last piece is the Mango Chocolat, which is a 70% dark chocolate mousse, mango confit, passionfruit and mango curd, chocolate sponge and hazelnut crunch:

H's favourite was the carrot cake bunny, and mine was actually the macarons. I don't usually gravitate towards macarons, because they mostly taste like eating pure sugar, and why would I want to stick a spoonful of sugar in my mouth when I could be having a mango chocolate mousse instead? These ones actually had so much individual flavor (a bit fruity I think?) with the lightest, fluffiest texture, so that it didn't feel like eating diabetes. 

I am looking forward to going out to coffee shops and having fresh pastries in the wild outdoors.